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Consumer

Don’t Run on Empty, and New EPA Stickers for New Cars

by Luke Landes
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Before my girlfriend purchased a new car, she was always careful to refuel her old car before the gas gauge dipped below a quarter of a tank. I’ve been living on the edge, letting my gauge drop to one-eighth of a tank or less before refueling. Her concern was that the gauge didn’t seem very ... Continue reading this article…

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Car Dealers Pass Loan Acquisition Fees to Buyers Without Disclosure

by Luke Landes
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If you have less-than-stellar credit, you’re at a significant disadvantage when you go to a dealer to purchase a car and seek financing through the dealer. Banks or intermediary loan brokers charge dealers a fee to extend credit to a risky customer. Rather than denying someone credit, the company that finances the loan charges risky ... Continue reading this article…

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Mother’s Day Fiasco With FTD: A Review

by Luke Landes
Mother's Day Flowers

In my attempt to be a good son to my mother who lives about as far away from me as possible in the contiguous United States, I decided to send a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day. Sending flowers may be cliché, but I know she appreciates it, so I’m happy to send them. I’ve ... Continue reading this article…

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Use Technology to Save Gas Money

by Luke Landes

The last time average gasoline prices reached $4.00 a gallon, people were agitated. I wasn’t immune either; I’ve commented on the rising prices as well. Although I’ve been thankful that gas prices in this country are lower than many other places in the world, and has prices in New Jersey are generally lower than average, ... Continue reading this article…

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The Group Couponing Craze: Good for Merchants, Bad for Consumers

by Luke Landes

Whether it’s extreme couponing or group-couponing, the idea of saving money has the country frantically searching for deals and spreading the word through social networking. I’ve had to hide a number of friends whose total social discourse has been reduced to posts about their favorite deals — and WRITING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS when they’re ... Continue reading this article…

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Gold and Silver Officially Currency in Utah

by Luke Landes

There’s good news for currency purists in Utah. If a shopper is so inclined, she could use gold and silver coins to make purchases. Technically, that has always been the case, but now there is a law on the books that makes it clear. There is a slight problem with this idea, however. The legal ... Continue reading this article…

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Should We Eliminate the U.S. Postal Service?

by Luke Landes
Mailboxes

I don’t bother checking my mailbox every day. Most of the paper mail I receive is junk, and I’m sure the same is true for most households. Unlike Gmail, I can’t create an automated filter to organize my paper mail, and there is no built-in junk-mail screen. As a result, 95 percent of what I receive ... Continue reading this article…

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AT&T Acquiring T-Mobile USA: Today’s Mobile Phone Options

by Luke Landes
Telephone

This weekend, AT&T announced its plans to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, pending regulatory approval. The new company would be the leading mobile telephone (and data) service provider in terms of customers. With the new AT&T soaking up 39 percent of the mobile market, and with Verizon Wireless at a close second at 31 percent, this ... Continue reading this article…

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CoinStar is a Rip-Off

by Luke Landes

The whole premise is almost absurd. It reminds me of children on a playground — one invariably tries to trick another by offering three quarters in exchange for a dollar bill. Even kids are smart enough not to fall for this trick. For some reason, however, people are content using CoinStar machines. For a whopping ... Continue reading this article…

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Chase to Limit Debit Card Transactions to $50?

by Luke Landes

CNN Money is breaking this story right now. According to a company insider, Chase Bank is considering limiting debit card transactions at either $50 or $100. Any purchase you plan to make with your debit card that exceeds the amount — for example, your weekly groceries at the super market — would be declined if ... Continue reading this article…

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Soften the Effect of High Gas Prices

by Luke Landes
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I got lucky: I decided to leave my job, and the associated daily commute, around the time gas prices started rising faster. Now, with more unrest in northern Africa, a gallon of gasoline at the pump costs more than $3.50 on average, with some location sporting a price north of $4.00. High gas prices, though ... Continue reading this article…

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Replacing Dollar Bills With Dollar Coins

by Luke Landes
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While politicians, political commentators, and opinion-yellers are knocking heads and locking horns in Washington, D.C. in an attempt to determine how to spur the economy while cutting the budget deficit, there is an old debate about currency that refuses to die. For the most part, the public isn’t excited about the idea of eliminating paper ... Continue reading this article…

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Kraft Downsizing or Protecting Consumers?

by Luke Landes

In last Sunday’s Consumerism Commentary Podcast, our guest from Consumer Reports, Tod Marks, talked about product downsizing. With commodity prices rising, companies — particularly food product companies — are trying to determine how they can cover their increasing production and distribution costs without losing their competitive edge. In order to maintain the same price point, ... Continue reading this article…

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Giving Your ZIP Code to Cashiers

by Luke Landes

One of my first jobs as a teenager, twenty-some years ago, was a salesperson at Radio Shack. Our point-of-sale system functioned on phone numbers for some reason, so whenever a customer wanted to purchase something, we asked the customer for his or her phone number. Even if the customer was buying a pack of AA ... Continue reading this article…

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Comparing Airfare is Frustrating: What Would Make You Loyal?

by Luke Landes

Retails airlines are battling their customers. People shopping for flights generally want one thing: the lowest price on airfare. The airline industry doesn’t want that to be the case. They’re making this shopping process more difficult for their customers. For example, some airlines do not make their prices available through websites that aggregate fares, like ... Continue reading this article…

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Are Groupon’s Super Bowl Ads Offensive?

by Luke Landes

Update: Groupon has pulled the controversial ad campaign described here. I’m a big fan of Christopher Guest. He has wrote and directed several great films, popularizing the “mockumentary” genre. This is Spinal Tap is one of his highly-acclaimed films. He has also directed many commercials, some of which feature his regular troupe of actors, those ... Continue reading this article…

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Best Buy’s Buy Back Program

by Luke Landes
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The consumer retailer Best Buy has found a way to lock customers into tighter relationships. The company’s rewards program may no longer the attraction it once was, so the company is introducing a benefit that will encourage shoppers to come back to the store. It also encourages the product upgrade philosophy, something that cell phone ... Continue reading this article…

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Mobile Payments Could Be the End of Credit Cards

by Luke Landes
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In my wallet, plastic is king. I use my credit card for almost every transaction, though in rare cases I still go for cash. Like many others in this country and around the developed world, I also carry my cell phone around with me everywhere I go. Cell phone technology is progressing quickly, and this ... Continue reading this article…

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Verizon Wireless Kills “New Every Two” Discount

by Luke Landes
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The year 2000 was not an easy one for me. I had hardly any money thanks to a low-paying non-profit job and student loan debt. Even when not spending much beyond the necessities, I wasn’t improving my financial condition. I was moving around from apartment to apartment; by 2004 I would had lived in seven ... Continue reading this article…

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The Myth of Ownership

by Luke Landes
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Who really owns all of your stuff? It’s comforting to think that everything that we have in our possession, acquired by legal means, belongs to us. That’s not always the way it works, however. The myth of ownership is expected to apply to people who buy their possessions with credit and can’t afford to keep ... Continue reading this article…

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